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The perils of constitution-worship
Economist ^ | 23 Sep 2010 | Economist

Posted on 09/25/2010 1:04:09 PM PDT by Palter

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To: Palter
More to the point is that the constitution provides few answers to the hard questions thrown up by modern politics. Should gays marry? No answer there.

A number of judiciaries claim otherwise - I won't say they believe it, but they claim it nonetheless. In any event, either such judges are correct, and the Constitution really does grant a host of hidden rights nowhere mentioned by name or they're incorrect and are subverting their positions for their personal goals. Either way, it's an issue that must be addressed; and what's truly infantile is the author's thinking he can just brush the question aside based on his own preferences.

41 posted on 09/25/2010 2:27:25 PM PDT by eclecticEel (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 7/4/1776 - 3/21/2010)
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To: P-Marlowe

Bump


42 posted on 09/25/2010 2:29:43 PM PDT by dcwusmc (A FREE People have no sovereign save Almighty GOD!!! III OK We are EVERYWHERE)
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To: Palter

Major tailspin into an uninformative thud.

>> Indeed, there is something infantile in the belief of the constitution-worshippers that the complex political arguments of today...

Possession where? The infantile editors at the Econimist?


43 posted on 09/25/2010 2:29:49 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Your Hope has been redistributed. Here's your Change.)
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To: Gene Eric

Absolute left-wing marxist trash. What’s this writer’s IQ, 50?


44 posted on 09/25/2010 2:35:32 PM PDT by darkangel82 (I don't have a superiority complex, I'm just better than you.)
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To: Palter

infantile?

he can got to hail

figures he’s from hah vuhd


45 posted on 09/25/2010 2:37:22 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys)
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To: Palter

“Wouldn’t it be splendid if the solutions to America’s problems could be written down in a slim book no bigger than a passport that you could slip into your breast pocket?”

It could fit on a slip of paper “Get rid of those who hate America and support the Conservatives and entrepreneurs. Study the Bible throughly and follow its wisdom.”

Now - how much space did that take?


46 posted on 09/25/2010 2:44:34 PM PDT by RoadTest (Religion is a substitute for the relationship God wants with you.)
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To: Palter
Herein lies the great divide, which leads those unfamiliar with the American system to err:

We (as Americans) must believe in the "consent of the governed." That consent is embodied in the founding documents, and is protected by the limitations put upon our government within them.

It isn't a matter of government worship - It is a liberal mind that even conceives that notion. It's all about enforcing the original contract.

47 posted on 09/25/2010 2:45:47 PM PDT by roamer_1 (Globalism is just Socialism in a business suit)
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To: RightInEastLansing
He is correct that the Constitution doesn’t address gay marriage, and that is why it falls back to the State authorities.

Bzzzt. The 14th amendment ruined all that.

48 posted on 09/25/2010 3:06:51 PM PDT by Huck (Q: How can you tell a party is in the minority? A: They're complaining about the deficit.)
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To: Palter
Indeed, there is something infantile in the belief of the constitution-worshippers that the complex political arguments of today can be settled by simple fidelity to a document written in the 18th century.

There is something infantile in the belief of half-educated British media poofs that human nature has changed at all since the 18th century.

49 posted on 09/25/2010 3:13:04 PM PDT by SamuraiScot
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To: GLDNGUN

It can be criticized as crap but it is also part of the other guys agenda i.e. our Constitution is a living document and is and should be subject to change. It is wise to know if not understand what we are up against. They are out there.


50 posted on 09/25/2010 3:18:21 PM PDT by noinfringers2
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To: Palter
Wouldn't it be splendid if the solutions to America’s problems could be written down in a slim book no bigger than a passport that you could slip into your breast pocket?

Don't even need that much print. Legalize freedom. Works every time.

51 posted on 09/25/2010 3:24:50 PM PDT by Nateman (If liberals are not screaming you are doing it wrong!)
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To: Palter
Projectile vomiting here

this from a country that lets illegal squatters throw a elderly man out of his house and the police are too PC to deal it or deal with the yobs

52 posted on 09/25/2010 3:25:55 PM PDT by Charlespg
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To: eclecticEel

“either…the Constitution really does grant a host of hidden rights nowhere mentioned by name”

That’s not really what we’re dealing with. The source of our rights is our Creator, not the Constitution. Our Constitution is to prevent our government from interfering with our rights, but it does not claim to enumerate all of those rights.

See Amendment IX: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The argument over whether a certain right exists in or is granted by the Constitution is just the left’s plausible diversion. We should be arguing the real issues, which arguments they must lose.

These are:

1. Given that we are endowed with our rights by our Creator, *could* such a right exist? (Bear in mind that no right could exist that is contradictory to God’s nature.)

2. If the answer to that is “yes,” then *does* our Creator endow us with this right?

Apply this to abortion. Rather than wasting time on blatantly bogus crap like an imaginary “penumbra,” start with question 1.

God has told us that deliberately slaying the innocent is wrong. (Many abortion proponents apply that principle to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—but not, oddly, to the Rape of Nanking or the slaying of preborn babies.)

Syllogism:
God forbids the deliberate killing of the innocent.
Abortion is the deliberate killing of the innocent.
There is not, therefore, a right to “choose,” nor could there ever be. It is contrary to what God has told us of His nature, and for that reason could not exist. Period, end of story, in saecula saeculorum.

Apply it to Amendment II.

Syllogism:
God has told us that we have the right to defend ourselves against wrongdoers.
We cannot protect ourselves against wrongdoers without guns on our persons and in our homes.
Therefore, we have a God-given right to keep and bear arms.

It is pointless to discuss the issue further. Those who wish to do so are witting or unwitting enemies of the Constitution. If they won’t sit down and shut up, they should be made to sit down and shut up—as was done in America until the left infected us with madness.

(God created man, but Sam Colt made them equal. There’s only one way a woman can protect herself against men, and only one way a man can protect himself against bigger, stronger men.)


53 posted on 09/25/2010 3:26:52 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: Palter

Just what we need. Another newbie telling us that the Constitution is outdated and inadequate for “modern” times.

Get lost.


54 posted on 09/25/2010 3:30:09 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Lurker

I said no such thing. Don’t imply anything from just a post.


55 posted on 09/25/2010 3:31:38 PM PDT by Palter (If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. ~ Mark Twain)
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To: Palter
Stopped reading this poorly worded piece right here:
The Declaration of Independence and the constitution have been venerated for two centuries. But thanks to the tea-party movement they are enjoying a dramatic revival.

Pssst--hey, copy editor---"venerated" means "revered". So, if these documents were "venerated" for 2 centuries, where is the "peril of Constitution worship"?

IATZ?

56 posted on 09/25/2010 3:32:58 PM PDT by MaggieCarta (I know that the voices in my head aren't real, but they do have some great ideas)
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To: Palter

Learn the difference between “imply” and “infer” noob.


57 posted on 09/25/2010 3:34:12 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Palter

Seems to me that the only thing that the original Constitution did was form the monster in Washington. It was written in language that invited the usurpation that has taken place for over 100 years. Thank God some folks saw the shortcomings and insisted on that list of “negative rights for the government” before they agreed to ratify Mr. Madison’s document.

The first 10 amendments are the only part of the Constitution worthy of high esteem and they exist to protect us from the entity created by the original document. Judging by the number and scope of the usurpations by that entity, they really haven’t done a good job.

Don’t think anybody considers any of the Constitution sacred but it was the agreement between the states when they created the monster and we would just like to get back to that point. We were a free people when the monster was created and now; not so much. Sort of like “Restore to a prior date”.


58 posted on 09/25/2010 3:40:34 PM PDT by fewz
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To: fewz

Please remember, as you read this silly article that might be rejected by the editor of a local high school newspaper, that this article comes from a society that believes:

The individual has no right to protect himself, even when attacked. If they do protect themselves they will be prosecuted for hurting the muggers or robbers.

Pointy tipped kitchen knives are weapons of mass destruction and should be outlawed.

The more surveillance cameras you install, the safer you are. Since this has proven to not be the case as the perps simply wear hoodies, attempts to shut down these cameras have been made. The bills have failed. The UK is now the most surveilled country in the world. Without any effect whatsoever.


59 posted on 09/25/2010 3:53:00 PM PDT by texmexis best
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To: fewz
Seems to me that the only thing that the original Constitution did was form the monster in Washington. It was written in language that invited the usurpation that has taken place for over 100 years. Thank God some folks saw the shortcomings and insisted on that list of “negative rights for the government” before they agreed to ratify Mr. Madison’s document.

A documented agreement can only go so far. Commonly held ideas are what shape societies. In the 19th century, socialist ideas came of age and spread throughout Europe and America, for the worse. The Gramscian "long march through the institutions" is what destroyed classical liberalism, as socialist thought spread throughout the cultural institutions (schools, media, entertainment) that shape common wisdom.

To reorder society, we need to re-conquer these institutions. Glenn Beck has the right idea, and is acting as the point of the spear.

60 posted on 09/25/2010 4:00:27 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas
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